Yitro

God spoke all these words, saying: “I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods besides Me.

20:1-3

Since this verse is formulated not as a declaration but as a “commandment,” it does not mean, I am your but,” but “I shall be your God.” In this manner it postulates as the basis for our relationship to God that demand which our sages describe as “accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Samson Raphael Hirsch (19^th Century)

One may ask, how can “I am the Lord” be counted among the Ten Statements, as God is the one who commands? Clearly, “I am the Lord” is neither a positive nor a negative commandment. In other words, “I am the Lord” is an introductory statement to that which follows. That is, verse 3 is to be understood as follows: “I am the Lord your God…who commands you the following…

Ibn Ezra (11^th Century)

The repetition of “spoke…saying…” suggests that God rehearsed the words he was going to say to Israel before actually saying them. We must surely learn from here that an ordinary mortal must carefully review what he is going to say before saying it, if even God is reported as doing so…

Isaiah Horowitz (16^th Century)

The repetition of “spoke…saying…”was added here in order to teach that all these Ten Commandments were spoke in a single utterance…

Rabbenu Bachya (13^th Century)

I alone am the Lord; I am the One responsible for creating the material world, for creating egos, individuals, I am known to you by tradition. I keep My promise to remain your God. I am not to be worshipped through intermediaries. I am to be prayed to directly…and you can only worship me exclusively.

Sforno (15^th Century)

(God models for us)…If we have found meaning and life in Judaism, we should be willing to speak about it in front of others. Too many of us are improperly shy. Furthermore, a veneer of skepticism is often considered a sign of sophistication, even among religious people…We should not be afraid to publicly say, “I believe in God.” You would be surprised as how often a simple declaration of faith elicits a positive response…

Yitzchak Buxbaum (Contemporary)

Without God, there can be no basis for Absolute Law or Morality. Without God, all morality becomes relative, a matter of opinion. Without God, there is no ultimate purpose to humanity. If the natural world is the one objective reality, and there is no moral source beyond nature, good and evil possess no objective reality. Without God there is no “wrong.”

Stuart Altschuler (contemporary)